Bayonet mounted flexible cleaning pad

ABSTRACT

A toilet brush is disclosed which can be mounted to and from an elongate handle. The brush itself includes a hand sized parabolic shaped plate having a hand encircling strap over the top of the plate and a cloth mounted flexible sponge pad attached to the bottom of the plate. A handle with an attached bayonet plate can be moved to and from a position of engagement with a female bayonet fitting on the top portion of the brush plate. The cloth mounted flexible sponge pad extends beyond the parabolic shaped plate to provide an extended and flexible cleaning surface. This extended and flexible cleaning surface can both conform to and be backed by the human wrist when the brush is handle held as well as conformed to the irregular interior surfaces of a toilet bowl when the brush is handle held.

United States Patent [191 Bailey BAYONET MOUNTED FLEXIBLE CLEANING PAD[76] Inventor: Guy Bailey, Route 1, Box 3, Atlus,

Okla.

22 Filed: Feb.8, 1971 211 Appl.No.: 113,181

[52] US. Cl. ..15/244 A, 15/144 A, 15/145, 15/227, 306/7 [51] Int. Cl...A47l 13/18, A471 17/02 [58] Field of Search ..15/145, 227, 244 R;306/7; 260/669 R; 15/145, 227, 244 R, 244 A, 244

]March 20, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Primary Examiner-DanielBlum Attorney-Townsend & Townsend [5 7 ABSTRACT A toilet brush isdisclosed which can be mounted to and from an elongate handle. The brushitself includes a hand sized parabolic shaped plate having a handencircling strap over the top of the plate and a cloth mounted flexiblesponge pad attached to the bottom of the plate. A handle with anattached bayonet plate can be moved to and from a position of engagementwith a female bayonet fitting on the top portion of the brush plate. Thecloth mounted flexible sponge pad extends beyond the parabolic shapedplate to provide an extended and flexible cleaning surface. Thisextended and flexible cleaning surface can both conform to and be backedby the human wrist when the brush is handle held as well as conformed tothe irregular interior surfaces of a toilet bowl when the brush ishandle held.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED MARZO I975 3.720.976 SHEET 1 [IF 2INVENTOR. GUY BAILEY WMW ATTORNEYS PATENTEUMARZO I975 SHEET 2 BF 2 FIGINVENTOR. GUY

BAYUNET MUUNTED FLEXIBLE CLEANING PAD This invention relates to brushesand more particularly to a toilet brush of improved design which can bemounted to and from a long handle to provide a single implement for theefficient cleaning of toilet bowls.

Heretofore, conventional toilet brushes have had two seriousdisadvantages. First, they have all been rigidly attached to an elongatehandle. While an elongate handle is efficient for cleaning a toilet bowlin the vicinity of the toilet trap. it is not efficient for cleaning atoilet bowl around the rim or top.

Secondly, toilet brushes have heretofore not been provided with acleaning surface which can conform to and efficiently clean theirregularly shaped surfaces of the toilet bowl, such as the underside ofthe toilet rim.

An object of this invention is to disclose a palm shaped toilet brushwhich can be either mounted to an elongate handle or alternately removedfrom the elongate handle and hand held.

An advantage of this toilet brush is that it can be used with its handlefor the conventional cleaning of a toilet bowl in the vicinity of thetrap.

An additional advantage of this toilet brush is that it can be swiftlyremoved from the handle and hand held for the cleaning of the toiletbowl in the vicinity of the rim.

Yet another object of this invention is to disclose a parabolic shapedand hand sized brush.

An advantage of the parabolic shaped brush is that its vertex portionwhen handle held can be used for cleaning a toilet bowl in the vicinityof the trap.

An additional advantage of the parabolic shaped brush is that itconforms to the human hand.

Yet another object of this invention is to disclose a bayonet mountingon the top of the brush which is of low profile.

An advantage of this bayonet mounting is that when the brush is handheld, the mounting does not interfere with the hand.

Yet another advantage of the bayonet fitting is that a hand strap can bemounted across the top of the brush in a position where it will notinterfere with the bayonet fitting.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a flexible clothbacked sponge surface which extends beyond the squared end of the rigidparabolic brush surface.

An advantage of this flexible brush portion is that when the brush ishandle held the flexible portion can conform to the irregular surfacesof the toilet bowl such as the underside of the toilet bowl rim.

Yet another advantage of this flexible brush portion is that when thebrush is hand held, the flexible portion can be backed by the humanwrist for more efficient cleaning.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be moreapparent after referring to the following specification and attacheddrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toilet bowl showing the brush of thisinvention mounted to a handle;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the brush of this invention beingremoved from its handle;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the brush of this invention being handheld;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the toilet bowl brush shown mounted to itshandle;

FIG. 5 is a section ofthc brush taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is an alternate configuration of the brush illustrating a bayonetfitting of reduced size.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the improved toilet brush of this invention canbe easily understood. With specific reference to FIG. 2 a brush A isshown adjacent an elongate handle B. Connection of the brush A to handleB is'provided by cooperative engagement between a female bayonet fittingC on the upper surface of brush A and a male fitting D at the end ofhandle B. A strap E extends over the top of brush A on the outside offemale bayonet fitting C.

When themale bayonet fitting ID is mounted interior of the femalebayonet fitting C on the brush, the brush can be used in a handle heldmanner as illustrated in FIG. 1. Altemately when male bayonet fitting Dand its attached handle B are removed from brush A and its femalebayonet fitting C, brush A can be hand held as illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 1-5 and with specific reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 theconstruction of brush A can be easily understood. Brush A comprises arigid plate 14 fabricated typically from aluminum, plastic or the like.Plate 14 is flat and has a parabolic contoured forward edge 16 with avertex 17. At its end remote from vertex 17 plate 14 is squared orprovided with a straight line boundary 19.

Plate 14 is bent upwardly at its parabolic edge 16 to form a femalebayonet fitting. This can be seen specifically with reference to thesection of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5 it will be seen that the edges 20 of plate 14 arebent upwardly and to overlie at rims 21 the top side of plate 14. As canbe seen in FIG. 4, rim 21 extends around the entire parabolic peripheryof plate 14.

As will hereinafter become more fully apparent, plate 14 at edges 21defines the female bayonet fitting into which the male bayonet fitting Dcan be placed.

Referring to FIG. 4, plate 14 is encircled by a hand strap E. Typically,hand strap E is of a cloth material such as canvasor the like andencircles the parabolic shaped plate 14 in the vicinity of the latusrectum of the parabolic contour. Typically, strap E is spaced withrespect to plate 14 a distance so that the brush A can be convenientlyheld by hand as illustrated in FIG. 3.

A sponge pad 25 is attached to the undersurface of plate 14. Typically,sponge pad 25 includes a cloth backing 27 glued onto the upper surfaceof a synthetic sponge material 26. Cloth surface: 27 is in turn attachedto the undersurface of plate 14. This attachment is made by gluing orthe like.

Sponge pad 25 has a shape when viewed in plan which is complementary tothe shape of plate 14. As is seen in FIG. 4 the pad extends outwardlyand beyond squared boundary 19 of plate 14. Typically, the length ofthis extended portion 29 can be made to any convenient length desired.As here illustrated the flexible portion extends outwardly from plate 14a distance half again the length of plate 14 from the vertex 17 to theboundary 19. As is apparent from the view of FIG. 4 the portion ofsponge pad 25 extending from plate 14 has a width which is equal to thewidth of parabolic shaped plate 14 at its boundary 19.

As has been previously mentioned, the flexible portion of sponge pad 25extending beyond boundary 19 has two functions. First, when the brush ishandle held as illustrated in FIG. 1, the flexible portion of the brushpad 25 extends beyond boundary 19 in a disposition where it canconveniently conform to and clean the under surface ofa rim 35 of atoilet bowl 40. Alternately, when hand held, the pad 25 as extendingbeyond the boundary 19 can extend in a position where it is backed bythe wrist ofa human hand.

Handle portion B and its bayonet fitting E can be readily understood.First, handle portion B consists of two separate portions 41 and 42which typically are connected at 43. Thus, the handle B can beconveniently stowed as well as used at two separate lengths. Whileprovision can be made for the telescoping of section 41 interior ofsection 42 of handle B, a simple forced fit of portion 41 interior ofportion 42 provide the simplest construction of handle B.

Referring to FIG. 5, handle B at its end adjacent brush A includes aball 50 attached by a shaft 51 to the end 52 of handle section 42. Ball50 is received interiorly of a female ball joint 53 defined on the uppersur face of male bayonet fitting D.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the construction of the female ball joint 53can be readily illustrated. Typically, plate 55 is arcuately mountedover the surface of male bayonet fitting D. Attachment of therectangular plate is provided at either end typically by rivets 57.

Centrally of plate 55, circular aperture 60 having an annular interiorrim 63 is configured to conform to and capture the ball 50. Annularaperture 63 has a section which captures the ball 50 between theundersurface of the plate 55 and the upper surface of male bayonetfitting D.

It is desirable to adjust the bias between plate 55 and the uppersurface of male bayonet fitting D. This can be provided by attaching athreaded shaft 70 at one end to the upper surface of male bayonetfitting D and allowing threaded shaft 70 to protrude through an aperturein plate 55 beyond the upper surface of the plate 55 adjacent aperture63. By the expedient of providing wing nut 72 threadedly engaged tothreaded shaft 70, biasing of plate 55 towards and away from the malebayonet fitting D can be provided by moving the wing nut towards andaway from bayonet fitting D.

This arrangement has an advantage not immediately apparent. Typically,the angle of male bayonet fitting D with respect to handle B can beadjusted in two degrees of movement. Moreover, by adjusting wing nut 72a frictional adjustment can be provided. Thus, brush A and handle B canbe pressed in a first orientation against the side of the toilet bowl40. Handle B and attached male bayonet fitting D will conform to adesired angular relation. The brush can be used for a period of time inthis angular relation. Thereafter, brush A and handle B can be pressedand manipulated against the interior sidewall of bowl 40 to move to asecond angular relation. The brush can be then used on the handle in thesecond angular relation. Thus, the angular relation of brush A withrespect to handle B can be remotely positioned to virtually any desiredposition.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, it will be seen that the male bayonetfitting D has a shape complementary to but slightly smaller than theshape of the plate 14 onto which brush 25 is attached. As viewed in FIG.4, the periphery of male bayonet fitting D with respect to plate 14 ofbrush A is shown in broken lines underlying the edge 21 of plate 14.

With the parabolic shape of both the male bayonet fitting D and theplate 14 of brush A the cooperative bayoneting engagement of malebayonet fitting D to plate 14 can be easily understood. Typically, theunder surface of male bayonet fitting D is positioned parallel to theupper surface of plate 14. Thereafter, the two complementary shapedplates are moved forwardly so that the respective vertices of each platemove together. As is apparent, edges 21 of plate 14 will serve tocapture the outside parabolic shaped boundary of male bayonet fitting D.Thus, brush A can be easily attached to or removed from its handle B.

It should be appreciated that the female bayonet fitting C and the malebayonet fitting D are normally held together by the friction force ofplate 14 and edge 21 capturing male bayonet fitting D therebetween. Ifdesired, provision can be made for fastening brush A to the male bayonetplate D.

According to this aspect of the invention, a strap of flexible materialsuch as canvas or the like is attached at one end to vertex 17 of thebrush A. At the opposite end the strap includes a female snap fitting72. The upper surface of male bayonet plate D includes a male snapfitting 73. This snap fitting is typically spaced a distance from thevertex 17 of brush A so that the plate will be securely held within thefemale bayonet fitting defined by the brush. With the straps 70connected to the male snap fitting 73 inadvertent separation of theunits is not possible.

It should be understood that the bayonet fitting disclosed can be of anynumber of specific shapes. It is not necessary that the bayonet fittingenclose the edges of the brush A. For example a rectangular shapedbayonet fitting together with a rectangular male bayonet fitting 82 asillustrated in FIG. 6 could be-provided.

Moreover, parabolic shape of the brush will emit of a number ofvariations. For example, the parabolic could be narrowed in its width asillustrated in FIG. 6. Moreover, the protruding portion of the spongepad could be omitted.

Likewise, other modifications can be made of this invention withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A toilet cleaning device comprising: a plate having a pair of opposedends; an elongated, flexible cleaning member attached to one face of theplate and projecting outwardly a sufficient distance from one endthereof to permit the projecting portion of the member to flex and toconform to the wrist when the plate is hand-held, the opposite end ofthe plate being adjacent to an extremity of said member; and a strapsecured at its ends to the opposed sides of said plate and definingtherewith a hand-receiving space, whereby the cleaning member and theplate can be hand-held as a unit, said plate having means defining agroove on a portion of its outer periphery receiving the outerperipheral margin of a second plate complemental to at least a part ofthe first-mentioned plate; said second plate movable into said groove tocouple the plates together, and an elongated, rigid handle, said secondplate having means thereon for mounting one end of said handle thereto.

6 2. A cleaning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein movement of saidhandle. said handle mounting means includes a universal joint A cleaningdfivice as Set form in Claim wherein providing for pivotal movementofthe handle. said first-mentioned plate has an arcuate fowardmost 3. Acleaning device as set forth in claim 2, wherein end and a longltudmallyStralgm rearmost said universal joint has means for limiting the pivotal5

1. A toilet cleaning device comprising: a plate having a pair of opposedends; an elongated, flexible cleaning member attached to one face of theplate and projecting outwardly a sufficient distance from one endthereof to permit the projecting portion of the member to flex and toconform to the wrist when the plate is hand-held, the opposite end ofthe plate being adjacent to an extremity of said member; and a strapsecured at its ends to the opposed sides of said plate and definingtherewith a handreceiving space, whereby the cleaning member and theplate can be hand-held as a unit, said plate having means defining agroove on a portion of its outer periphery receiving the outerperipheral margin of a second plate complemental to at least a part ofthe first-mentioned plate; said second plate movable into said groove tocouple the plates together, and an elongated, rigid handle, said secondplate having means thereon for mounting one end of said handle thereto.2. A cleaning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said handlemounting means includes a universal joint providing for pivotal movementof the handle.
 3. A cleaning device as set forth in claim 2, whereinsaid universal joint has means for limiting the pivotal movement of saidhandle.
 4. A cleaning device as set forth in claim 1, wherein saidfirst-mentioned plate has an arcuate fowardmost end and a longitudinallystraight rearmost end.